A National Perspective On Cornerback Recruiting - Part III
Securing signatures from elite cornerback recruits, the final step with Notre Dame cornerback recruiting.
During the first installment, the importance of elite cornerback play and how it’s connected to recruiting rankings and the NFL draft were highlighted. The second installment defined how Notre Dame transformed many players from offense to defense, as well as the need to recruit cornerbacks from Texas and California.
This final installment tackles how and why Notre Dame can land elite cornerbacks from SEC country, where many of the elite high school cornerbacks reside, without forgetting about Notre Dame hitting its recruiting base for cornerback recruits.
Continue to Win
If you want to catapult recruiting into the top five of recruiting rankings, winning big would be the best way to do it. While 2019’s 11-2 record was a nice season, Notre Dame needs another 11-1 or 12-0 regular season with a signature victory over Clemson to capture the attention of Southern cornerbacks.
From experience, how northern football is viewed by the majority of people in the south, it’s not looked upon as equal. Notre Dame needs to go above and beyond to change that perception.
Notre Dame earned a 33-6 record during the past three seasons. If the Irish do well enough to reach the College Football Playoff in 2020, imagine what it will do for recruiting. Even those elusive cornerback recruits that tend to stay close to home and stay down south, might take a harder look at Notre Dame.
Make Specific Dixie Cornerback Recruits Priorities
When former Notre Dame assistant coach Charlie Strong (1995-1998) recruited for Notre Dame, he did not take no for an answer. He continued to go after recruits from states like Louisiana, Georgia, Alabama, and Florida even if the initial push proved to be unsuccessful. It worked.
For the 1997 recruiting class, nobody really expected Notre Dame to land highly coveted cornerback recruit Brock Williams. Afterall, the talented 5-10, 170-pound cornerback hailed from Hammond (La.) High School, a program less than an hour from Baton Rouge and LSU. That did not stop coach Strong from going after him.
It was a long and grueling recruitment with many twists and turns, yet coach Strong and Notre Dame found its cornerback. Williams played a vital role in Notre Dame’s defense for years to come before donning an NFL helmet (2001-2005). Hard work by coach Strong and the Notre Dame staff paid off.
That’s not to say there will not be failures when recruiting in Dixie, but Notre Dame simply needs to possess a more ‘can do’ attitude regarding Dixie recruiting, especially with cornerback recruits due to their overall importance to a college football playoff run.
Yes, there will be more difficult recruitments and yes there will be anxious moments. With that, if Notre Dame wants to bolster its roster, especially at cornerback, landing an elite cornerback down South will certainly help.
Even if Notre Dame lands a player like Williams once every three years, that’s a big deal. Another great example would be former Notre Dame cornerback Gary Gray. For the 2007 recruiting class, the Columbia (S.C.) Richland Southeast product originally selected South Carolina over Notre Dame. The Irish persisted, Gray flipped to Notre Dame and signed with the Irish.
It’s about making specific cornerback recruits down South priorities. Notre Dame needs to get back to doing just that, even if it’s just one or two cornerbacks per recruiting cycle. There’s a way to make that process easier.
Early Evaluation
During the past few years, Notre Dame finally added to its administrative recruiting staff to the point where it could compete with other prominent college football programs like Alabama, LSU, and Texas. With the proper recruiting intel in place, it helps Notre Dame to evaluate and draw prime underclassmen recruits to campus.
Whether it’s a running back with a long frame or a pure cornerback, the more times Notre Dame brings potential cornerback recruits to campus the more likely those recruits feel comfortable with Notre Dame and eventually select the Irish. With COVID-19 erasing March and April visits, the one bonus will be the recruiting staff possessing more time to recruit across the board, underclassmen included.
The next few months will be time evaluation time -- grades, character, overall fit -- beyond football talent. There are always a handful of absolutely elite underclassmen cornerbacks down South. Notre Dame needs to monitor each and every one of them. The next task will be finding a way to get them up to South Bend for unofficial visits. Again, it only takes one. While the Irish need more Dixie cornerbacks on their recruiting board, hitting the local talent cannot go away either.
Sign Cornerbacks from the Notre Dame Recruiting Base
According to the 247 cornerback rankings for the class of 2020, only one of the top 15 cornerbacks hailed from a state up north. That’s right, one. That player would be Luke Hill, CB, 5-11, 180, Baltimore (Md.) St. Francis Academy. Hill signed to play with Oregon, and earned a composite ranking of No. 195.
Meanwhile, just the states that include SEC schools within them produced eight of the top 15 (keep in mind that Texas and Missouri count towards that total). As for the deep South, still, the ledger showed four of the top 15 cornerbacks in the country, per 247. That’s all the more reason Notre Dame cannot miss when a local cornerback from Notre Dame’s traditional recruiting base becomes available.
Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota, Kentucky, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey should be a big bulk of the recruiting base for Notre Dame, cornerback recruiting included. While the class of 2021 does not appear to be the best cornerback group up North, there’s more promise with 2022. Look for several profiles coming in the next several weeks. Until then, one last item to wrap up cornerback recruiting.
If the Irish can steal a top-notch cornerback recruit out of Ohio with the talent of Lorenzo Styles every few years, all the better. Speaking of Styles, he’s just an elite football player despite being listed as a wide receiver. Who knows, he could line up at cornerback for the Irish.
Since Styles exemplifies the type of natural athlete the Irish are known to produce, here’s a look at his junior film. This is the type of athlete college programs covet, even if they are not as technically advanced as Styles.
He can change a program because regardless of what side of the football he ends up playing. Styles is going to win more than his share of the 50-50 balls. Not to mention, he’s a threat to score each time he touches the football. Or maybe Styles plays cornerback?
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